{
  "id": 12469465,
  "title": "Editor-in-chief resigns amid probes of alleged citation manipulation, data errors",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/editor-in-chief-resigns-amid-probes-of-alleged-citation-manipulation",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-06T20:54:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Retraction Watch",
    "slug": "retraction-watch",
    "url": "https://retractionwatch.com/2026/10/06/egyptian-rheumatologist-tamer-gheita-editor-in-chief-resigns-citation-manipulation-data-errors/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The editor-in-chief of The Egyptian Rheumatologist, Tamer Gheita, has resigned following allegations of questionable citation practices and improper peer review at the journal. Three publishers are also investigating alleged data errors in Gheita's research group's papers in other journals. The Egyptian Society of Rheumatic Diseases (ESRd) began investigating Gheita in June following concerns about editorial practices, including rapid peer-review timelines and questionable citation patterns. Gheita denies the allegations, calling them \"subjective\" and \"malicious.\" He claims he did not instruct, pressure, or encourage authors to cite his work, and that the citation patterns do not establish a scheme to manipulate citations. The anonymous complaint accuses Gheita of inflating his citation metrics by forcing authors to cite his work and accepting articles for publication in days without proper peer review. Gheita's tenure at the journal saw a significant increase in citation of his work, with 49% of articles citing his publications in 2011 to 2026, compared to none in 2011. An anonymous complaint also raised concerns about statistical errors in research papers co-authored by Gheita, including \"impossible p values\" and inconsistent data in tables. The publisher, Elsevier, is aware of the claims and has initiated an investigation, but cannot provide further information at this time.",
  "summary": "The editor-in-chief of The Egyptian Rheumatologist has resigned following claims of questionable citation practices and improper peer review at the journal. At least three publishers are also investigating alleged data errors in papers in other journals by the former journal editor, Tamer Gheita, and his research group. Gheita, a professor of rheumatology at Cairo University … Continue reading…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}